STA, 6 February 2021 - The government has cleared the plan of enrolment in university programmes for the next academic year after increasing the number of available posts for students of medicine and computer science, and raising the number of posts set aside for non-EU students.
The overall number of posts for first-year university programmes at four public and ten private universities is 18,520, down 120 compared to the original proposal. There are 43 more posts for full-time students and 154 fewer for part-time students, the government said on Friday evening.
A total of 2,365 posts are available to Slovenians without Slovenian citizenship and students from non-EU countries, up 88 from the year before.
The increase is "a result of activities that higher education institutions have invested in recent years into internationalisation and increased cooperation with foreign markets," the government said.
After consultation with individual faculties, the number of posts at the Ljubljana Faulty of Computer and Information Science increased by 50 across all study courses.
Enrolment at both medical schools, at the University of Ljubljana and University of Maribor, will increase by 50 to 271. The Education Ministry ill secure extra funding for all faculties where enrolment will increase, the government said.
It was not immediately clear from government materials which courses were scaled down.
The decision comes after the government refrained from clearing the plan, which had been finalised in talks between higher education institutions and the Education Ministry.
The decision was met with resistance from education stakeholders, but the government said it was necessary to conduct a strategic deliberation on what Slovenia's labour market truly needs.
The government held a consultation with university representatives on Thursday evening and lack of medical students, in particular due to low admission numbers, was highlighted as a particular problem.
